


With the flick of Knife

by PlotDreamer



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Attempted Rape, Big bro Shiro, Cus come on jealous Lance is amazing, Jealous Lance, M/M, The paladins have to attend a festival, This Was Supposed To Be A One Shot, and stuff happens, oh well, protective!paladins, so warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 23:13:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9520337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlotDreamer/pseuds/PlotDreamer
Summary: Lance coughed a little. “You look really nice.” He mumbled.Keith turned to him with a surprised look. “What?”“I said you look like rice!” Lance blurbed out, face flushing.“O-Oh well um. Ok?” Keith looked around, as if searching for something, or perhaps just avoiding looking at Lance. “Well.. I’m gonna go look for Shiro, thanks for the save. See ya around.”Or: The paladins attend a festival in return for the planets alliance. Lance is pining his ass off, but he's not the only one with his sights on Keith. (Written before Season 2)





	

“..Therefore it would be a privilege if the Frunzeator Realm were to join us in the war against Zarkon and his empire, in an effort to help liberate the galaxy from within his clutches.”

Finishing off her well reversed proposition to the Ruler of Frunzea, a planet of genderless almost lizard-like people, Princess Allura sat back down in her seat. She smiled kindly yet confidently at the Quing, gently urging them to agree with her previous statements. 

At the same moment, Lance was roughly jabbed in his side by Pidge. He immediately straightened back up again in his seat, after having been hunched over for the majority of the Princesses long and, quite frankly, boring proposal. After sending the smaller paladin a sour glare, to which he only received a smug smirk in return, he turned his attention back to the Quing sitting at the end of the long table. They were thoughtfully rubbing their spiked chin, an indifferent look present on their face. After a while, they merely shrugged. (At least that's what Lance interpreted it as, alien customs are weird.)

“Your highness, if I may?” An frunzeator respectfully inquired, and with a flick of the Quing’s wrist, they were granted permission. “What benefits would Frunzea receive in this exchange?”

Shiro leans forward in his seat. “Zarkon will eventually expand his empire to the reaches of your planet if he’s not stopped, your highness, you and your people are going to become part of this war sooner or later, however we hope it can be sooner, before it becomes  _ too _ late.” 

“Altea was destroyed 10,000 years ago by Zarkon, and it’s not the only planet that has. Voltron is here to stop the war to prevent more planets from the same fate, however we can’t do it alone.” After a slight pause, Allura continued. “The resistance is expanding, more and more are planets joining. We’re going to end this, once and for all.” 

The frunzeator individuals scattered around the table stayed silent, taking glances around at each other. A rather tall frunzeator behind the Quing started whispering in their ear-thin thingy. The Quing nodding along to what was being said.

“The realm of Frunzea will be honored to join this resistance.” The paladins sent relieved smiles along each other- “On one condition.” -Which instantly turned to worried frowns.

“You must partake in our annual floră appreciation festival!”

An audible sigh of relief was heard from Hunk.

“A festival? That sounds awesome!” Lance exclaimed happily, immediately brightening up at the idea.

“A festival?” Pidge echos.

Coran clapped his hands together and beamed blissfully. “Why yes! The floră appreciation festival, I haven't attended one of those since my grandfather took me after the completion of the Castle of Lions.”

“Our festival is an ancient part of our culture. It serves as a preservation and recognition to our old ways of living, in the days where we hunted for food with the help from our surrounding flora.” 

“We would be happy to attend.” Allura gushed, as she stood up once again, shortly followed by everyone in the room.

“Brilliant!” The Quing cried out. “The festival will begin in 300 paces! Luckily that should be just enough time to get you ready! My helpers will get you into our traditional attire, let's split you up into 3 groups!”

Keith leaned towards Coran. “ _ 300 paces _ ?”

Coran chuckled slightly. “Each pace is about 30 ticks.”  

“So about 2 and a half hours.” Pidge stated.

“To get  _ dressed? _ ” Keith hissed.

“Alright team, you heard the Quing. Allura, Pidge, you two go together. Keith, you’re with me. That just leaves Coran, Hunk and Lance for the last group, is everybody ok with those?” 

“Actually Shiro, I happen to have my own frunzeator outfit in the Castle ship. I will simply wear that!” Coran made his way towards the exit. “Enjoy you funzeator style makeover! It is truly a once in a lifetime experience!” And with those last words of advice, Coran was gone.

A low rumble (Are they laughing?..) was heard from the Quing. “Floare, Petală, and Tijă, you may take the paladin's and the Princess to the Cabină de Probăs. Off you go!” Shooing them out of the room, the Quing returns to their throne.  

_____

“So.” Shiro picked up his pace in order to catch up with..Petală was it? “What usually happens during your festival?” 

They smiled at him gently. “It is a celebration of our floral life. frunzeator’s from all over our planet come to compete in our annual floral competition that is held along with the festival. It includes many different categories, such as the most beautiful flowers, tastiest fruits, and others.”

Pidge piped up looking interested. “And you used to hunt for food? Are you Omnivores?” 

“Take a look at our tails.” Tijă stated bluntly, gesturing to the other two's tails. They were thin twig like looking, with fins that resemble leaves at the end. “The ends of them evolved to look like our flora, in simpler times we used to use them to attract unsuspecting fauna. With our colourations, it was rather easy to blend in.”

It was true that the frunzeator’s only seemed to come in green, orange, yellow, brown, and pink, and not in fact the entire rainbow like Lance had first wondered. Size-wise however Lance concluded, after having seen maybe ten different frunzeators, was between Shiro and Sendak on average.

Originally upon first contact with the frunzeator’s, the paladins had also immediately noticed that it seemed as if they had taken inspiration from both Ancient Rome and Japan in terms of their style of clothing. 

Roman like robes and dresses had been seen worn often by some, others, like Floare and Petală, seemed to wear gowns strikingly similar to japanese kimonos.

The rest of their way to their destination consisted of curious questions and answers. A few questions about human culture were even asked, which the paladins happily responded to.

_____

When they got to the Cab-something de Prob-something, they were split into their presorted teams of twos and put in different rooms, each one of the Quing’s helpers (Servants seemed like a better word for them if you asked Lance..) taking a pair with them. 

Inside Lance and Hunks room, more servants were waiting, and they assumed the same could be said for the others.

Several frunzeator’s rushed up to them, measuring their heights, arm length, leg length and the rest that was necessary.  

_____

Lance stared at himself in the mirror. He was now fully dressed and ready for the festival. He was dressed in what almost resembled a male japanese kimono, however with thinner fabrics and shorter robe. Loose fitting pants were visible underneath. The top of it exposed his shoulder and arm, which had been painted with turquoise blues in different smooth patterns. Simple roman like sandals adorned his feet. The outfit was an aray of different shades of blue and silver, as well as some leathery brown areas like the belt tied around his waist. A silver flower like crown sat on top of his head.

Quite honestly, he looked.. good, at least if he asked himself.

He glanced over at Hunk. He too had a type of robe on, in various yellows, oranges and bronzes. Hunks outfit was similar to Lance's, however both his arms were exposed, a type of t-shirt underneath. He too, wore sandals and and the same crown, but in bronze. 

Petală clapped their hands and smiled. “You both look wonderful! Come! It is time to return to your fellow paladins as well as princess and join the festival.” They gestured for them to follow.

They followed Petală back out into the hallway, where they were greeted by the rest if the paladins and Allura, each of them also fully dressed in their own individual outfits.

Allura didn’t look to different from her usual self, embellishing a long delicate pink kimono like gown with various different patterns of local plants. Her Altean crown remained.

Pidge on the other hand was clothed in some kind of medieval looking leggings as well as a roman dress like shirt. A dark green cape like cloak draped over their small frame. They looked delighted. 

At one point Coran had made his return, he himself clad in some traditional clothing. Although they looked rather worn out in comparison to everyone else's. Properly because they had been lying somewhere abandoned for 10,000 years.

Shiro looked like a match to Allura with all the flower patterns sprinkled on his black (Also) kimono like robe. Various swirls of platinum symbols could be seen decorating both his clothing and skin, a larger crown resting on his head. Lance smirked as he saw how awestruck their leader was by the sight of the princess.

And finally, there was Keith. Lance almost froze, eyes widening at the increasingly uncomfortable and irritated looking Keith. Each person was wearing something that would both compliment them and fit them, or anything the frunzeators had found really. And boy, did Keith look  _ good _ . 

Sure, his clothing was a bit more feminine, the frunzeator were genderless after all, which probably confused them in the long run, but man could he pull it _ off _ . Various shades of red, black and gold made up his short-ish.. gown would be the best word to describe it. Long golden sandals curved around his well toned yet scrawny smooth legs. Both his arms were exposed, golden patterns drawn across them. The top of the gown was wrapped tightly around his chest, then fell loosely down to about mid thigh in the front, and then draped down further in the back. A golden crown, like everyone else, also sat on top of his head, however his hair was braided back into a bun.

Goddamnit.  _ He looked beautiful _ .

Lance almost stuttered for words, both Hunk and Pidge throwing knowing glances at each other.

“This is gonna be a long night.” He muttered to himself.

_____

Lance could see Keith casually leaning against one of the walls of the castle from his spot across from him. He stood firmly, eyes not leaving Keith’s lonely slim form nor the various different frunzeators that kept glancing his direction. 

“Sup, spying on Keith are we?”

Lance jumped at the sound of Pidges voice from behind him.

“Wha- n-no!” Lance defended. “I’m just making sure that idiot doesn't get himself into any trouble!”

Hunk, who had approached with Pidge, gave him a one over. “Oh my god.” He exclaimed, a smile stretching across his face “You're jealous!”

Lance spluttered. “NO! I jus- Have you SEEN the way some of these guys look at him?! I’m just looking out for him!”

Pidge started smirking, a glint in their eyes. “He IS!”

Lance froze, then turned his back to them, arms crossed and pouting. “Yea well so what if I am?” He froze, eyes widening, and then quickly spun around and grabbed Pidge by their shoulders. “Oh no, what if I am?! What do I do?! Oh god.”

Pidge blinked a couple times before turning her head towards Hunk. “He’s got it worse than we thought.” They stated bluntly. 

Lance’s face lit up with a large blush. “Oh no.”

Pidge smirk grew. “Oh yes.”

“Damnit!” Lance hissed.

Hunk propped his hand on his hip. “So you’re finally admitting it?”

Lance chuckled nervously. “Admitting what?” 

Pidge started making kissy faces. “That you’ve had a big fat crush on Keith for a long,  _ LONG _ time!” 

“Who Keith? Have you  _ seen _ that guy's mullet?!” Hunk and Pidge gave him a disapproving look. Lance glanced towards Keith’s direction, and frowned when he noticed some frunzeator talking with him. “..Fine.” 

Pidge narrowed her eyes and smiled evilly. “Say it.”

Lance sighed agonisingly. “I have a massive crush on Keith.”

“Great! Now are you gonna stand here and stare or are you gonna go over there and get your man?” 

“I’m gonna stand here and stare.”

“LANCE!” Hunk practically shrieked.

“I can’t go up to him now! I need to be smooth, and classy~” Both Pidge and Hunk raised their eyebrows and crossed their arms. “What if he doesn't like me? Have I mentioned how many people have their eyes on him? What do I have to offer? I mean what if he doesn't even like guys?! What if-”

“Lance shut up!” Hunk exclaimed, shushing Lance with his finger.

“You’re an idiot.” Pidge stated flatly.

“Wha-” Lance began.

Hunk and Pidge started walking away. “Just talk with him, have some mushy confessions or whatever.”

Lance started chasing after them. “You can’t just leave me alone!” 

“Well Keith’s heading your way now.” Laughed Pidge. “Go get him tiger! Or ya know, lion I guess is a better term now.”

Lance blinked and turned around, seeing Keith rapidly approaching with an almost disturbed look on his face.

“Shit.”

_____

**_*Earlier*_ **

“Hey frumuseţe~ Names Venus. How’s it going?”

Keith slowly turned around to face the tall frunzeator that had almost been breathing down his neck. They had a large and slightly unsettling grin on their face. 

Keith took a couple steps backwards. “Uh… alright?  _ Considering _ we’re in a war and all.” 

“Hum that's true, but seeing a pretty face like yours certainly brightens up  _ my _ day.”

Keith’s cheeks turned a deep scarlet as his eyebrows knotted together in displeasure. “Ok. Well- I’m gonna go.. Over there… because-” Keith leaned to the side of Venus in an attempt to look past him. In the process he spotted Lance looking at him from across the room with a slight frown. It looked like Hunk and Pidge were behind him laughing. “-Lance over there looks like he needs my help with.. Something. Bye.” 

Venus leaned back against the wall and winked at Keith as he tried to shuffle past him. “See ya later baby~”

Keith ignored them trudged over towards Lance’s direction. He saw Pidge and Hunk taking their leave. When he got there Lance looked at him with annoyance and.. Slight panic? “..What’s up?”

Keith blinked, cringing a bit at the  _ wolf whistle _ he heard from who he was sure was Venus. How the heck could he whistle this far?  

“Who's your friend back there Keith?” 

Keith frowned. “Somebody who calls themselves Venus-” Both Keith and Lance look back over to where Venus is still propped up against the wall, obviously watching them. When they see them looking over he blows Keith a swift kiss. 

“Charming.” Lance spits bitterly.

Keith scrunches up his nose and snorts. “No, they’re weirding me out.”

“Anddd- they’re still looking at us. Come on, let’s get out of their sight range.” Lance tugged slightly at Keith's sleeve as they made their way through the crowd. 

Once they could no longer see the frunzeator, Lance let go of Keith’s arm and cleared his throat. “So..”

“So..” Keith repeated, looking just as awkward as Lance felt.

“Yea.”

A silence fell between them. 

Lance coughed a little. “You look really nice.” He mumbled. 

Keith turned to him with a surprised look. “What?”

“I said you look like rice!” Lance blurbed out, face flushing.

“O-Oh well um. Ok?” Keith looked around, as if searching for something, or perhaps just avoiding looking at Lance. “Well.. I’m gonna go look for Shiro, thanks for the save. See ya around.” And with that, he walked off again. 

“Rice?!” Lance facepalmed. “Stupid stupid stupid!”

_____

“Shit.” Lance groaned, as buried he his face in the table he along with Pidge, Hunk and Coran were currently placed at. 

“ _ You look like rice _ .” Pidge sniggered.

“I panicked ok!” Lance cried.

“Like  _ rice _ .” Pidge repeated.

“Hey leave the boy alone number 5, surely one day this will be you!” Coran grinned.

“No thanks, my only crush is science.”

Hunk chuckled gently. “Maybe if we tell him it’ll be easier for him.”

Lance’s head shot up. “Tell me what?!”

“Yea I think we need to.” Pidge agreed. “I mean if he hasn't figured it out by this time I doubt he ever will.”

“Figure out what?!”

“I agree.” Coran twisted his mustache. “It should benefit his confidence and performance.”

“GUYS!”

“Calm down, don’t get ya undies in a twist.” Pidge turned to Hunk. “You can do it.”

“Really? Ah thank you!”

“Guys I swear on my mum's cooking if you don’t tell me right now-”

“Keith has like the biggest school girl crush on you.”

  
“-Im gonna- Wait what?”

Pidge groaned. “Isn’t it obvious? The way his eyes light up when you talk to him, the small smile on his face every time you guys argue?”

Lance blinked in shock. “Keith.. Likes me?”

“Like buzzel stinger likes a a ovialy is bloom!” Coran stated happily.

“Like..Keith like-likes me?”

Pidge ran a hand down their face. “ _ YESS _ .”

A broad smile spread across Lance’s cheeks. “He likes me!” He chanted. “He really actually likes me!” Lance bounced out of his chair, a determined grin on his face. “I have to find him.” He darted away into the crowd.

The rest of the remaining crew sat in silence for a while.

“Do you guys think he’ll call him good looking rice again?”

_____

Lance ran around the dance floor, he searched every buffet table, he even ran into Allura and Shiro, who, no Lance, hadn’t seen Keith the whole night.

He was starting to get a feeling that something wasn’t quite right, anxiety rising.

A spent another good 20 minutes looking, until he finally spotted the bunned mullet.

He walking with a fast pace away from the edge of the room, where Lance can only guess he had been moments before.

Venus was following him.

Lance saw the way Venus grabbed Keith, trapping him in their large arms, and he ran. He ran even faster when he saw Venus drag Keith out into one of the many hallways surrounding the ballroom.

He freaked out when he released he’d lost track of them.

_____

“SHIRO!!”

Lance teared through the crowd, sprinting towards his friends, all of which now sat together. He ran over to their table and slammed his hands down.

“Wehavetogonow!Theytookhim!” He exclaimed rapidly.

Shiro straightened up in his seat, looking alarmed. “Wow slow down Lance! Tell me what happened.”

“Keith! They took Keith! Some frunzeator calling themselves Venus grabbed him and dragged him out into one of the hallways! I tried to follow them but I lost track!” Lance was shaking, they needed to go  _ now _ .

Shiros eyes narrowed dangerously as Alluras authoritative tone made itself known. “Lance, take Shiro and Hunk to the last place you saw them, see if you can find them. Coran, Pidge, you come with me and talk to the Quing. I will not stand for one of my paladins getting hurt.” She growled.

Everyone nodded in agreement as Lance quickly grabbed Hunk. Shiro following not far behind.

_____

They had been searching for a while now in the area Lance last saw the two, Lance growing increasingly skittish. He worried himself endlessly over if this was even the right place, and grew more and more anxious by the minute.

And then, Lance heard something. He didn't know what that something was but it was  _ something _ . It didn’t sound too far away, but at the same time it did. Like.. like something was blocking it, muffling it out.

“Wait, did you guys hear that?”

_ “Mummph!” _

“There it is again! You guys heard that right?”

“Yea I heard it too!” Hunk responded, while frantically looking around for the source of the noise.

“Come on, this way!” Lance yelled as he dashed down the hallway looking for noises origin. He found a large (Metal?) door. It was clear the sounds were coming from behind it. Shiro and Hunk weren’t far behind.

_ “Aw baby, am I your first?” _

Before Lance could even react to the disturbing comment they all very clearly heard, Shiro had activated his galra arm and gone berserk on the door, destroying it with a bang.

Lance shielded himself with his arm as the door came bursting down. When the dust cleared, he got a clear view on the scene.

There, on some weird looking frunzeator bed, was Venus. He was spread out on top of a kicking and muffled screaming Keith, holding down the loose limbs. His hands were in the process of removing the top of Keith’s attire. Practically  _ growling _ , Venus’s head turned to face the intruders. His anger and.. Lust was unmissable.

The withering Keith underneath them had a type of fabric stuffed in his mouth and tied around his head in an effort to silence him. Keith’s arms were suspended above his head by what looked to be some painfully tight rope. A clear expression of relief flooded his face as his fellow paladins kicked down the door.

“Mrphh!” His struggles seemed to ease up a little at the sight of his friends, however the desperation in trying to escape from beneath the frunzeator was still clear.

And although is was subtle, it was clear that Keith was visibly  _ trembling _ .

Lance was angry. No he was fucking _ enraged _ . How dare someone force themselves upon Keith like that? How someone  _ dared _ to touch someone without their consent, let alone  _ Keith _ . His rival, his teammate, his friend, his hopeless  _ crush _ . Fierce, reckless, beautiful, Keith ‘I can take care of myself’ Kogane? Lance didn't even _ need  _ to glance to either side of him to be able to tell that he wasn't the only one fighting the urge to straight up just shoot the  _ disgusting _ and utterly  _ sick _ frunzeator.

“Let. Him.  _ Go _ .” Shiro’s voice was virtually dripping with venom, his protective brother instincts having taken over. 

And the frunzeator had the audacity to  _ smirk _ . “I wouldn’t take a step closer if I were yose guys.” And not a moment later, had they shifted and drawn a knife to Keith's neck, and with a sinking feeling, Lance noticed it was the same knife Keith always carried with him and refused to let go off.

Both Hunk and Shiro visibly tensed from the corners of Lance's eyes, and Lance was sure he himself froze in place. He narrowed his eyes dangerously. “Hurt him and you’ll regret it.”

Venus snorted. “Oh trust me, I’d rather have him writhing beneath me,  _ moaning _ my name as I caress his beautiful delicate frame~” His smirk widened as he leaned down and forcefully bit down on Keith’s exposed ear, making Keith yelp and growl up at him. It made Lance’s blood boil. “-and thrust ruthlessly into that perfect little a-”

With one swift and powerful kick Venus was thrown across the floor. Keith looking positively infuriated with a glare that seemed like it could scorch anybody with third degree burns if they got even remotely close to him. 

Lance didn't waste a second to run and untie Keith from his restraints while Hunk and Shiro made sure the frunzeator was completely out cold. They had hit a wall pretty hard after the kick. Lance tossed them the same ropes Keith had been tied up with only moments prior while Keith got rid of the gag.

After Venus was dealt with and unable to escape, Shiro and Hunk rushed over to Keith as well. He was panting hard, a red flush spread across his cheeks. Whether it was from anger or embarrassment Lance didn’t know. Probably both.  

“Keith are you ok?” Shiro softly asked, his concerned tone clear as day.

Keith didn’t answer. He simply got up, and walked over towards Venus, who was now lying on the floor passed out and tied up to some kind of frunzeator furniture. The rest of the paladins watched from there spots around the bed as Keith )gave one final kick to their lower stomach before heading towards the door. Lance heard several swear words muttered underneath his breath as he walked.

“What were you thinking?” 

Keith didn't even acknowledge Lance’s question. “Keith, he could have slit your throat.”

Keith paused before turning his head back to look at Lance. “Lance, it’s not the first time someone held a knife to my throat. His form was all wrong. He’s an idiot.” He turned face the doorway again. “Now are you guys coming or would you rather stay here with Prince Charming?” 

_ (“What do you mean it's not the  _ first _ time someone's held a knife to your throat!?”) _

“Guys are we supposed to just leave them here? Shouldn’t we, like, take them back to the Quing?” Hunk steadily asked, shock slowly wearing off from the event.

_ (“Fine, you know what? I’m not even surprised.”) _

“Hunk is right. We can’t leave them here. Lance, you go with Keith back to the castle. Hunk and I’ll take care of this.” 

Keith practically jumped round to face Shiro, fists clenched. “I don’t need a babysitter!”

Shiro sighed and made his way over to Keith, placing his hand on his shoulder like he usually does when he’s worried about one of them. “Of course you don’t, but I don’t want you to be alone right now.”

“But-”

“Please Keith.”

Keith’s eyes wavered a bit, before glancing down at his feet. “Ok.”

Shiro smiled down at him and squeezed his shoulder. “Thank you. Call us if you run into any difficulties.”

“Come on, let’s go.” Lance stated softly as he lead Keith out of the room. Lance silently walked besides Keith as they made their way down the flower decorated corridor. 

Lance needed to say something, he needed to hear Keith was alright, he wanted, no needed to  _ help _ him.

“Keith, are you ok?” Lance mentally face palmed. _ ‘Stupid question stupid question stup-’ _

“Oh just dandy thanks for asking.”

Lance stopped, frowning. Then marched up to Keith and stood in front of him, blocking his path.

“ _ Keith _ .”

A broken sigh was heard from the smaller boy. “Look Lance, really, I’m fine. I just, want to go, ok?”

Lance shot him one last concerned glance and then cast his gaze down. “Ok, let’s get out of here.” 

They continued their journey to the castle in silence.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Welp. Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! This was supposed to be a oneshot but it got a lot longer than I expected so.. Theres 1 more chapter to come! We'll get to see a bit more from Keith's point of view at the festival as well as what happens after!
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed it!
> 
> Also: Its currently 2am and I can't be bothered to check this before tomorrow, hope there aren't any too horrible mistakes!


End file.
